Sunday, May 26, 2013

You are now in your second year and I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to keep up with these monthly updates (not that they're ever on time now), but I rushed through your 2nd year (24 month) newsletter so I thought you deserved a proper one (in case this ends up being your last). What can I say... you are my little munchkin. You are two (well, now two + a month) and you are quite a handful. People ask how it is having a newborn again, and I have to say Nora's the easy one. She may be demanding, but her demands are easy -she cries when she's hungry, wants to be held, or wants to be left alone to sleep or when she needs a diaper change. There's no need to reason with her and there's no other way for her to communicate (and she sleeps a whole lot and isn't mobile so there isn't a lot of supervising that needs to be done at this stage). You on the other hand are your own little person with your own ideas and desires and there's no reasoning with you either, but you sure as heck want to try. There are a lot of tears and foot stomping going on in our house right now and I know it's frustrating for you because you are mister independent and want to do EVERYTHING yourself and want everything done a certain way (i.e. your way). You had a complete meltdown the other night because I dared to pour you a cup of milk by myself and didn't let you help. Granted it was a full gallon of milk that I was pouring from, but you had a complete meltdown and screamed "Me do it. Pour milk" for at least 20 minutes. "Me do it" is your favorite phrase (or at least it seems like it is) right now.

You still seem to love your sister and whenever she's awake you let us know. Whenever she's lying on the ground playing, you always insist on lying down next to her too. It is awfully cute except we have to watch you because you sometimes have bad aim and end up lying down on top of her or resting your head on some body part of hers.

It's also like when you give her hugs. If we're not watching you carefully you sometimes smother her with your hugs and kisses and then you seem offended when she starts squawking in protest or starts to cry.

I've started calling your sister muffin and it's super cute to hear you refer to her as muffin too. I mistakenly called her munchkin one day and you were quick to remind me that "me munchkin, Nora, muffin". Speaking also of nicknames, you've taken to calling daddy "Huge", which is both cute and disturbing. Whenever you want to get daddy's attention, you'll cup your hands around your mouth (which is really just you putting a hand on each cheek) and yelling "Huge".

Some of your favorite things right now are your green car,

bubbles,

and McDonald's. Not only for their delicious fries, ice cream and apple pie (or whatever other treat you get Adelia to give you)

but also because of the play space they have. At one of the McDonald's by our house there is this giant climbing structure, which I'm sure is a death trap (and full of germs -probably the underlying reason for your never ending runny nose these days). The first time I went with you there were a ton of kids (mostly older) running around and climbing. I was sure you were going to get trampled and I hesitated to let you go because it looked so big, but I knew you had gone with Adelia before and you really wanted to go climb. It was one of my first lessons in parenting and letting go. I had to trust you to go off and get through without me holding your hand or helping in any way. To be honest it was kind of nerve wracking for me, but you and I both did it and you had the time of your life. I was watching you while holding Nora with complete amazement because to me, you are still this small person, my baby and there you were scaling this giant structure with all the older kids, holding your own and coming out the other end a sweaty mess, but with a giant grin.

Seriously, look at this thing. That "tube" is made of mesh that you have to crawl through to get to the slide to go down. If a kid gets stuck in there or freaks out and blocks the way, there's no way and adult can get up there and intervene. And there's a hole in one spot and kids kept getting their foot stuck.

You really are a lot of fun. You are talking a lot more and are so interactive. Although along with this talking, you've decided to use "no" much more liberally than before. Even though know you don't mean it, it still breaks my heart a little bit every time you tell me "no kiss" or "no hug". I usually still end up with one, but I know the day will come (probably sooner than I expect) where you'll say that, but mean it.

You still love to dance, but now you've started to sing songs too. You have a fantastic memory and can tell us what's going on in a book or on a show. Speaking of which, we've let you start to watch a bit more tv (yes, I've turned into one of those moms that will throw on a show in the a.m. to get a few extra minutes of sleep or to take a shower knowing you're not inadvertently smothering your sister or pulling apart all your toys). We were watching a lot of Elmo/Sesame Street clips from You Tube, but you've now graduated to actual shows. Your current favorites are Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Super Why, Caillou and Dinosaur Train. You also watched your first movie this month (Cars) and you loved it.

What else can I say about you? You're this fun, spunky, fiercely independent, but super sweet and loving 2 year old little boy. I'm always amazed when I catch you in these moments where I see you as this tall lanky little kid and not the chubby toddler you just were. You no longer call me mama (about 95% of the time now it's mommy) and you've almost lost your knuckle dimples -these are what I use to measure baby-hood and you're almost done with both. You'll always be MY baby, but I've come to realize you really aren't a baby anymore.

Happy 25 months munchkin.

Love,

Mama

P.S. We had your 2 year well baby visit and you continue to be off the charts for height (38 inches) and about 60th percentile for weight (29 lbs).

Friday, May 17, 2013

Sorry for the delay in postings, but I'm going to blame my children for the lack of time to post updates. However, rather than just skipping them altogether I figured i could be excused and just post them a little late.

First up was Nana and Papa's visit. They came to visit for Callan's birthday and of course to meet Miss Nora.

There was lots of ipad time with Papa

Baking and reading with Nana

And of course lots of snuggles.

There may have even been a treat or two involved... (the birthday celebration seemed to last all week!)

Then Mother's Day 2013 was quiet, but nice because we got to spend time together as a family. Huge's work/travel schedule has been a little grueling so it was nice that we were able to hang out together. It was also great because I got a present from Callan. (I'm not sure why Callan has crazy eyes in this picture)

It was of course via Adelia (thanks Adelia -this was *ahem* *Huge*, the only present I got). Here is Callan picking out my flowers and helping to decorate the basket.

I know I can't complain though because I am lucky to have have these 2 munchkins in my life. Too bad most of the time it looks like this (when does my other set of arms arrive?).

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Callan and two of his best buds celebrated their second birthdays in the last month. Unfortunately Callan had to cancel his birthday party as the poor guy was sick with some bug (funnily enough he's pretty much never sick and this was one of the first times he's actually run a temperature for more than a day). However, nana and papa were here visiting for his actual birthday and we got to celebrate together. The most important part of a birthday is the cake (obviously), so nana and Callan got to work on that.

Callan loves to help out in the kitchen, especially when there are eggs to crack. The second best part of helping with baking is getting to lick the spatula.

We sang happy birthday and Callan got to blow out the candles. He was a pro!

Then a week or so later, we got to celebrate Michael's 2nd birthday with his friends.

There was a special birthday hat that Callan got to wear.

And with any good party, lots of dancing...

And then finally last weekend we went and celebrated Luke's birthday.

One of the benefits of living in the suburbs is a driveway to play on. This motorized bike was a big hit.

And of course cupcakes are a must at any party -especially those with bright colored frosting.

Can you believe these two hams are now two?!? Where has the time gone?

Monday, May 6, 2013

Dear Nora-Wow, you're already a month old... what a fast month this has been. Just like everything in your short existence, time has been flying by at warp speed. My pregnancy with you did not seem to last nine months -more like nine minutes and these past days and weeks have continued to go by at warp speed and are a complete blur. The fact that this newsletter is getting out just a few weeks late is amazing since I literally have no idea where the time goes.Nora, you are a great, sweet baby. I hope that continues as I constantly am holding my breath waiting for the other shoe to drop. I've been told (and read about) the difficult and crazy times of having a newborn and toddler as well as the difficulty of transitioning from one to two... and somehow I seem to have lucked out both times I've had a newborn. Your brother was an easy baby and you are as well (although last night was a doozy of a night and you were not happy -or easy). You've got a sweet temperament and put up with a lot including your brother and his out pouring of love. You tolerate him kissing and poking you, his aggressive pushing on the swing and the weight of his head on your body when he tries to "snuggle" you.It has been amazing to watch you two and some of the sweetest moments are when you'll be lying down next to each other looking at each other. You'll just watch him fascinated and Callan just loves you to bits. My heart swells each time thinking about the connections you've already made with each other and I hope your friendship continues to grow. Even though you won't always be best friends, I hope you'll always be there for each other.In other news, you are a GIANT baby. Your dad and I make adorable (in my biased opinion), but giant babies. You were born completely normal (7 pounds, 8 ounces, 19 inches long), but you've grown (literally) in leaps in bounds. On Friday you had your one month well baby visit and at 5 weeks old you are now 12 pounds, 14 ounces (seriously, that's almost 13 pounds) and 23.25 inches long! You've gained 5 pounds and grown 4.25 inches. That's ridiculous. And in comparison, Callan was 24 inches, but only 10 pounds, 14 ounces so you are 2 full pounds heavier than he was (and I thought he was big!). You are still in size one diapers and firmly in 3 month clothes... I'm pretty sure we'll be busting out the 6 month clothes soon! So much for my idea of having a cute petite baby girl. But don't worry, we still love you and find you completely adorable in your chunky pork chop/meatball way.Happy one (+) month baby girl.Love, Mama

P.S. Having a girl is going to be fun... I mean, look how cute the clothes and accessories are!

Friday, May 3, 2013

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

We had two really nice summer-like days here and took full advantage of them. Tuesday was the first day we needed to break out the shorts and of course, the bubble gun. Callan is a big fan of the bubbles and this new gun was courtesy of Adelia (and John). From what I hear, Callan was also a big hit at the park with the other kids. Good thing we buy bubbles in bulk -he's already gone through 3 bottles!

About Me

Here's where I write something witty about myself, my life or my blog... I should come up with something. Ha!
This little thing is just a way to document my life and what's going on... My travels, my experiences, my thoughts... Just sayin' something...